As okada riders in the Waterloo 55 Park are being sensitized that no bike should ply the roads after 12 midnight effect Monday July 23rd, the Bike Riders Union in the district is also busy constructing a three story building which will be used as their offices when the project concludes. (Photo: Commander Gberu standing on the just concreted floor of their building at 55 Park)

Chairman of the park, Abu Bakarr Mansaray alias Commander Gberu said the building project is supported mainly by the dues collected from the bike riders with a membership of about 4,000 registered riders who buy tickets at Le 2,000 per day. He boasted that his administration has taken seven months in office and it intends to complete the building project before elections are held in 2020. Commander Gberu expressed the need for goodwill organizations to give helping hands towards the construction project as he said the union is helping young people to be more productive than being perpetrators of violence in society.

Vice Chairman of the Waterloo Bike Riders Union, Foday Brima Kamara informed this medium that close to a Le100 million has been spent on the building project noting that over Le100 million is needed to complete the project as early as possible. “We promised riders during our campaign that we will build offices and now we are on it”, he boasted.

He further assured that riders are ready to comply with the after 12 ban which took effect past Monday in Waterloo. He said the union would ensure that the ban is fully implemented as security measure recently putting in place by the new Local Unit Commander of the Waterloo Police Station, CSP Ambrose Sovula.

It could be recalled that the LUC had a successful meeting with the bike riders executives in which they agreed to cooperate with the police full time. LUC Sovula had explained that the ban was meant to safe guard lives and properties owing to reports that okada riders are being used by criminals to perpetuate violence and disturbed the peace of citizens.